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winter walk off

while it’s felt quite summer like here lately, with blue-bird skies full of sun and daytime temps in the 80’s, tomorrow is the first day of spring. my blog buddy les at a tidewater gardener is hosting a blog challenge entitled “winter walk off.” the rules are simple. to walk off the doldrums of winter, post an entry describing the things you see in your neighborhood while walking it, on your own two feet… photos from your yarden are not permissible. here’s what i came across in my relatively newly constructed suburban neighborhood this past thursday evening.

my camera battery ran out soon after this, and i was only half way through my walk. however, a neat thing happened that i had to capture in my mind’s eye instead. after rounding another woodlot corner, i came upon an open lot with a little boy in navy and a little girl in magenta playing amongst the weeds, glowing with the backlight of the setting sun. the same wild onion “weeds” labeled a few pictures above. they were gathering them for their mom, or each other, or perhaps for themselves. the smiles on their faces were so sweet, especially when i overheard the little boy say, “gathering these flowers smells SO GOOD!” about that time he saw me walk around the bend, and even though we were 25 yards apart, he raised his full fist of garlic to me, as if in a greeting of passersby. while my images may not capture the best my neighborhood has to offer, at least i know there are good surprises to be had when i’m not even looking for them.

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11 thoughts on “winter walk off”

Thanks so much for participating. My mail handler did not send this to me until this evening, after I published my wrap up. But I will add it to the post, though the prizes have already been awarded. Your post gave me a real sense of where you live. Everything looks relatively new, but there are still a few glimpses into what was before, the older trees and the flattened snake.

thanks les. sorry i missed the deadline, but was glad to contribute to your challenge/meme. now you have a little more insight into the name of my blog. hopefully over time we’ll be able to contribute some positive aesthetic and ecological improvements to our neighborhood, like the new garden extension i planted just yesterday.

Hey Andrea, this is Jay White from “The Masters of Horticulture”. Just visited your blog for the first time. It is lovely. I love the pictures and content. I am also impressed with your lay out and general WordPress skills. I really love your side bar. Do you mind if I pick your mind from time to time on ways to improve my layout?

hi jay! thanks for stopping by. i can’t claim the design layout for the blog, as i chose it from one of the many themes that wordpress offers. i do tweak it here and there with widgets and pages on occasion, and have intentions of updating a few of them. drop a note or question whenever. maybe i’ll see you at the tamu holistic garden plant sale this weekend…? – andrea

It’s funny, but I just spontaneously did this last night- I wish I’d known about the challenge and had brought my camera along. There are all sorts of insects coming out, (and apparently moving into my house,) and the creek is rushing along madly. We’ve just had about 20 families of Amish move in on our road and there’s lot of very somber just washed clothing flapping in the breeze.

how nice to hear you’re neighborhood is growing! i bet you’ll enjoy getting to meet all those families and swap farming techniques with them. how is the house coming along, and what do you have growing so far? are the animals keeping you busy? can’t wait to hear all about it…! xox

“Suburbia’s home run” is brilliant. Reminds me of Vegas, where it all was spanking new and mostly cinder block and 2″ caliper trees. But you’re finding inspiration in unlikely places–and have your own “Unphotographable” moment in there, which I think I love the most. Keep walking and seeing so beautifully! xoxo

thanks lynn, esp for the unphotographable comment – ever since you introduced me to that site i’ve tried to capture camera-less moments in a similar way. maybe i’ll be able to describe suburbia’s home run when it’s overflowing with water, but i don’t anticipate that happening anytime soon.